Wicked Games

by Sean Olin

Overview

Tainted love. Sexy secrets. A chilling revenge plot. It's all here in Wicked Games by Sean Olin, the first in a psychologically charged, suspenseful series set in a picturesque coastal Florida town called Dream Point, where dangerous mind games are played with abandon.

Lilah has spent the last four years by her boyfriend Carter's side, and everyone thinks their relationship is rock solid. But behind closed doors, things are beginning to crumble. Just as Lilah's intensifying mood swings are making Carter think about distancing himself from her, another girl enters the picture. Jules is beautiful, funny, smart, and artistic. Carter can't help but fall under her spell. But one stolen night of passion has consequences they could never imagine.

Fans of books packed with drama and doomed romance, like The Lying Game and Perfect Chemistry, will immediately be hooked by Wicked Games.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062192394
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	06/10/2014
Series:	Wicked Games , #1
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	368
File size:	779 KB
Age Range:	14 Years

About the Author

Sean Olin is the author of Wicked Games, Brother/Sister, and Killing Britney. He lives in New York City but summers in a beach town that inspired the setting of the Wicked Games series.

Editorial Reviews

05/01/2014
Gr 10 Up—Carter has been Lilah's "forever" since the perfect evening he carved their names into a bench after their third date, back in ninth grade. Though they have been the quintessential couple in their Florida beach town for nearly four years since, their relationship seems unlikely to survive until graduation. Lilah gets drunk at a party, causes a nasty scene, and leaves Carter thoroughly disenchanted at having to treat his fragile and apparently mentally unstable girlfriend with kid gloves. He's also vulnerable to school hottie and drama queen Jules, who reaches out to him after Lilah is taken home. After another perfect evening with this different girl, Carter is confused, Jules is smitten, and Lilah is soon out for blood. She is not looking to punish Carter for hooking up with another girl but wanting to wound Jules for taking her man. Lilah's taste for revenge and obsession are downright scary and exaggerated to a near caricature. She launches dual campaigns to humiliate and intimidate Jules while winning back Carter by reminding him of what they have meant to each other. Ultimately, neither of Lilah's ploys nor the book's devices really work all that well. Use of designer names and current musicians are peppered among shallow descriptions of characters that focus on appearance. This style does little to elevate an uninspired plot. Nonetheless, casual or reluctant readers drawn to books with elements of romance, scandal, and suspense may not mind the two-dimensional villain or paltry treatment of her psychosis.—Suzanne Gordon, Lanier High School, Sugar Hill, GA

School Library Journal

06/23/2014
First in a planned series, Olin's (Brother/Sister) novel opens like an episode of Dawson's Creek and morphs into a lurid exposé of breakup violence. Carter and Lilah are voted "class couple" during their senior year of high school in the sleepy beach town of Dream Point. But their relationship isn't what it seems—Lilah is mentally unstable, and they argue constantly. They've planned to attend the University of Pennsylvania together in the fall, but Lilah hides her rejection letter from Carter, and her anger, insecurity, and codependence eventually become unbearable for him. After a dramatic fight, Carter falls for an artsy, easygoing beauty named Jules and dumps Lilah, which sends her into a rampage. Amid Lilah's over-the-top terrorizing of Carter and Jules, Olin explores the insidiousness of jealousy, as well as the liberation of finding release from a toxic relationship. However, the omniscient narration leaves little of the characters' feelings and motivations concealed, resulting in storytelling that lacks subtlety and often tilts toward cliché. An intriguing but unexceptional thriller. Ages 14–up. (June)

Publishers Weekly

2014-04-09
A novel that feels inspired by nighttime soaps like Revenge.Carter and Lilah's romance began sweetly when they were high school freshmen. By the time they're seniors on the verge of graduation, though, Lilah's unstable emotions and Carter's inability to deal with her have created distance between them—a distance that is filled by the sexy, alluring Jules. Carter has a one-night stand with her and wants more. So does Jules, but they both know nothing can happen while Lilah's in the picture. But when Carter breaks up with Lilah, it predictably sends her spiraling out of control. Lilah stalks and humiliates Jules, keying her car and airing a sexually explicit video Jules made at graduation. Carter and Jules think they've escaped when it's time to head off to college at the end of the summer, but it's really just given Lilah time to plot her ultimate revenge. And to achieve that, someone will die. Beyond the trite plot and stereotyped characters, the most grievous sin is the writing itself: Perspective shifts occur frequently within chapters; dialogue and description are stilted; and there are head-scratching gaps in logic.When readers reach the sequel-promising ending, their feeling will be more weariness than excitement. (Thriller. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews